Merry Christmas!

Well, for us, Christmas is done and today is just another Monday.  I'm very grateful to have been able to spend this time with family.  Not everyone is so lucky.  Our kids and grandkids were all here over the weekend.  I'm probably worse than the kids in terms of anticipation. There is this big build up of plans and anticipation, and then those plans kind of blow up and go awry. And then, much quicker than you want, it's over and everyone has gone home.

I think (hope) overall the kids (ages 3-7) had a good time together.  I had a craft planned for Saturday morning which was OK with the girls.  The boys were less enthusiastic but they humored me.  We had planned to take the kids to the Mary Poppins movie, but no one wanted to see it.  That really surprised me.   

Lesson learned for me. The kids really just wanted to play together, so that is what they did. 

Everyone did humor me again and allow some photos on Saturday afternoon right before we ate.  It just seems like I don't remember to take pictures until it's too late, so for once we managed it.

One year I got all of the kids matching PJs and we did pictures in those.  Those PJs all seemed to run small, so they didn't get to wear them much afterwards. One year we got them all matching Jackrabbit shirts for pictures. That was a year we had trouble even corralling the kids together long enough to get a photo.  This year I just insisted that everyone actually get dressed as not all adults or kids had even gotten dressed yet at lunch time. 

Thankfully both of my sons-in-law are good in the kitchen. One made the gravy and one cut up the meat, while I got everything else laid out.  One daughter made the mashed potatoes. I'm a less than average cook, and decided to keep it simple. And I made things that I like to eat.  We had a ham and roast beef.   The ham was good, but the roast beef was just barely OK.  A little on the tough side.  I made a broccoli rice casserole that I love but no one else likes.  I'll be eating leftovers of that casserole for days. The asparagus I bought was very bitter.  

About the time I had planned for going to the movie we decided it was a good time to open presents.  The 4 biggest kids can all read a little, so they checked tags on packages and sorted everything out to the right people.  But once the opening begins, you know how it goes. Three minutes later we are swimming in a sea of wrapping paper and bows and giggles. 

I do enjoy watching the kids opening gifts. From us they get something to wear, something to read, and something to play with.  I made the big pillows for the kids, and those were mostly a hit with them.  Ironically the gift that every kid wanted to play with the rest of the weekend was Jack's gift.  I got him a set of walkie-talkies, and they all spent hours playing with them.  Who would have guessed?

The 2 biggest grankids love Legos, as do both of their mothers. 

Some of the play time was with their new toys, and some was just playing hide and seek around the house or chasing each other up and down the stairs - which kept me very nervous. Very normal kid activities. 

Not everything was successful.  Besides the movie idea being shot down, we had one golden retriever lost in the neighborhood for about a half hour, a big dinner that was kind of lack luster (I'm not the best cook), and adult children who don't always play nicely with each other.  Even so it's always a let down when everyone has gone home and it's just us in the house again.  

I had leftover pie for supper last night and went to bed early.  My husband stayed up reading the book I gave him.  Merry Christmas to everyone! May all your holiday wishes come true!

2018 accomplishments surprise me

The actual amount of sewing I managed to do in 2018 has really surprised me as I worked on pulling together a list.  I made a lot of progress on UFOs in 2018, and have plans to keep plugging away at those unfinished projects in 2019.  I actually started some new projects too and finished them all in one year.  Yay! 

Some of the totally finished projects from 2018:

• Red Bird Christmas quilt
• Jelly Roll Christmas quilt
• Purple jelly roll race quilt
• 2017 Saturday Sampler quilt
• Quilt of Valor panel quilt
• pink One Block Wonder quilt
• Friendship Exchange quilt
• Polka Dot Pinwheel kid-size quilt (made from charm packs)
• Unicorn Stars quilt (made from parts of En Provence mystery quilt)
• ABC children's quilt
• Patriotic Lone Star wall hanging
• 2 more Sew Together bags
• 2 small pineapple wall hangings
• 3 Simple Whatknots mini quilts
• Old Glory
• Farmhouse Stars
• Small Talk
• 5 personalized floor pillows for grandkids
• 4 personalized Christmas stockings
• Numerous pillow cases (5 for the grandkids for Christmas)

Some of the projects seeing progress made in 2018:

• Grand Adventure Christmas quilt (made from layer cakes) is a flimsy
• Paris panel lap quilt is a flimsy
• sewing machine door hanging
• Saturday Sampler 2018 quilt is a flimsy
• Thimbleberries Hourglass quilt (from 2004) needs binding as soon as it comes back from the quilter
• French General wall hanging (Disappearing 4-Patch) is a flimsy
• Raspberry Cocoa (Simple Whatknots mini quilt) is partially hand quilted
• Patchwork of the Crosses - 3 blocks made, ready to add some "separator" pieces

Now - one of my next tasks is to do some more organizing in my sewing room, and come up with a UFO list for 2019.  Having the list really does help me focus on what I could be working on. 

Our kids, grandkids, and their dogs will arrive today for Christmas.  The lights are off and the door to the sewing room is closed for the weekend because there are more important things to do with those grandkids.  They'll all head home again on Sunday, and we'll have deafening quiet again in the house.  I plan to spend some quality time in my sewing room on Christmas Eve and Day.  Maybe I'll even pull out a NEW project to work on over the holiday break. 

An eclectic collection

Do you have a love affair with Christmas ornaments like I do?  Even though I struggled this year to get ambitious enough to finish the tree decorating, I still love pulling out each ornament.  This one is a counted cross-stitch/quilty ornament. I made it in 1990 and that year is stitched on the back side. I love the little quilt block on this side along with the  fabric folded star points.



I've been collecting interesting Christmas ornaments for decades. And yes, it's a good thing I have a very big tree to decorate.  I often purchased an ornament on trips over the years.  I love hand made ornaments or those with a theme close to my heart.  For example there are close to 3 dozen icicle ornaments on my tree of various shapes and sizes.  Some are glass and others are not.

This metal Jackrabbit ornament was a gift from my grandchildren this year. I really love it.



I purchased this little birdhouse ornament at an artist guild shop in the Blue Ridge Mountains many years ago. It's only about 4" high, but has that tiny little perch. I love the bark texture mixed with the silky smooth sections of wood.  You can just barely see the artist's signature along the bottom. This was purchased sometime in the 1990s.



This little lighthouse was purchased in Maine in 2002.  I had just started a new job after teaching in the same high school for 18 years.  It was a big change for me, and I was sent to Maine for some training.  This ornament, and a tiny red metal lobster magnet (on my fridge to this day) were my mementos of that trip with new co-workers.  Notice the red berries?  I also have lots of "picks" stuck in among the branches.  Most have red berries of various types, or have something sparkly on them.



We probably all have items in our homes that bring back good memories every time we see them.  I can feel the memories flowing as I lift the lid on the ornament boxes every year.

Design Wall Monday-Pillowcases

I have the pillowcases done for both families of grandkids.  These were kits that I bought this fall at The Pin Cushion with the kids in mind.  This has become a tradition - getting a new pillowcase at Christmas and on their birthdays.  Last year I matched the theme of the pillowcase with the book they received (like dragons or Bambi), but this year they are all Santa themed.

Check out today's Design Wall Monday posts:  http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

New stockings

Friday evening I got a text message from my daughter on behalf of Sophia. She said "grandma we have a big problem. We don’t have Christmas stockings."

I felt immediate guilt as I’ve been avoiding the finishing step on their stockings that I started over a year ago. So here we are - with appliqué names instead of machine embroidery names. I think they turned out cute. Edited note: I was asked how I did the names. It is simple iron on appliqué.  I printed the names using a font I liked on my computer.  The size is 90. I traced them backwards then traced that onto fusible web, ironed them onto fabric, and cut them out.  

I chose some vintage looking fabrics for my daughter’s stocking as she likes vintage things.

And my son-in-law’s stocking has a bit bolder fabrics.

Floor pillows are complete

With another week of absolutely no sewing time I am beginning to panic about getting things done before next Friday when everyone arrives.  Why do I procrastinate so much?  But I got the final pillow quilted and assembled this morning.  Next is getting the pillowcases all made. And then I must get the names on a couple of new stockings. 



I only bought of the big gift sacks - like garbage bags only Christmasy.  The really big pillows will go into those and hopefully the other 3 will fit in large paper giftbags.  I really don't want to venture out to Walmart to find more of the big bags. 

Reflection

Sometimes when you least expect it you have a moment of reflection and maybe "realization".  I had one of those moments yesterday.  So forgive this long rambling post.

We attended a funeral yesterday for the father of my husband's best friend since elementary school. This kind gentleman was 91 and lived a life of simple pleasures. He loved to camp, play cards, learn new things, dig into genealogy and spend time with his family.  Ironically my reflection really was triggered by the church itself rather than the man.

This little country church sits in a very small town with a population of 37, so obviously the congregation is drawn from the farms and towns around it as well.  Over the decades we've been to a number of events there as it was only 6 miles from where we lived for 28 years.  It's such a lovely church - with 18 curved wooden pews sitting in a gentle arc facing a small stage with the pulpit and an organ. The hardwood floor creaked as people walked in to sit.  The windows are simple rectangles of clear glass with squares of stained glass above each and the sunlight streaming in yesterday was so pretty.  The minister has been with this congregation for more than 30 years. Such simple surroundings, but such a lovely service. 

Thus began my "a ha" moment and lots of reflection. The organist was my husband's high school band teacher - and also my youngest daughter's high school band teacher. I taught with him for several years. The soloist was a good friend who served on a local board with me for a dozen years in the 1980s and 90s.  The ladies serving the lunch and the guys who had shoveled the walk - most were familiar community members or former neighbors.  And all of them - like that church and the little town - are getting old.  Yikes! That means WE are also getting old. 

The aging - and disappearance - of small towns in the upper midwest is not unique to this region.  The young people mostly can't find work in these little towns because there are so few businesses.  And so they eventually move away, like my husband's friend and his brothers.  This once thriving little town no longer has a school but it has a church, a volunteer fire department and 2 actual businesses:  a gas station that also sells heating oil and propane and does repairs, and the general store which also sells livestock feed, and is also the post office.  The owner of the store was our neighbor, and I taught with his wife. They are both in their mid-70s and I found myself wondering what will happen to the store when they finally retire.  Will the gas station start selling milk and bread and also become a delivery point for the mail? 

It all made think.  How far do those volunteer firemen have to drive to get to the hall to get the trucks before going to fight a fire?  Who plows the snow on the only street in town?  The closest hospital is 40 miles away in either direction.  The kids in the area either go 15 miles east or 15 miles west to go to school.  The school in this town closed in the late 1960s.  Was that the real death blow to this town?  I certainly don't have the answer, but I've been watching the same thing happening in the slightly larger town we lived in 6 miles west.  And in countless other small towns in the area. 

It gave us a lot to talk about as we drove home.  I'm so glad we made the time to go, both to celebrate this man's life, but to also reconnect with so many people who've been a part of our lives.